Well, well. Maybe you hoped for someone giving an extensive text about this mix. I hope it's here.
As many pals here said, many elements from the '87 remix are put in. They're not only the guitar solos, there's drum reverb (The Tell-Tale Heart, The Cask Of Amontillado), and some arrangements (The Raven) that are, so clearly, part of the remix. And the marvelous narrations that Wells did.
I'll do it song by song. My feelings need to be ordered.
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A Dream Within A Dream: From the start (with orchestral and synth parts coming from everywhere), to the end, with that amazing bass line (it REALLY shines in the front channels and LFE, as it should be), this is an excellent and balanced mix. The narration isn't limited to the center, it's spread around every speaker... even the sub, with some strange activity, and the rear ones: filled with some kind of echo that helps anyone trying to get inside the mood
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The Raven: '87 elements start to be noticeable, some drum reverb, the guitar solo, and arrangements during the initial drum part. Due to the excessive activity here, some tiny parts that were familiar in the stereo version feel buried. As a logic thing, Alan's vocoder-processed voice is travelling around the four main speakers. The bass is strong here.
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The Tell-Tale Heart: More '87 stuff. Orchestral parts are sooo great and never front-heavy. The guitar solo feels a bit cold and lifeless (remember that the '87 parts were 80's 100% digital recordings), compared with the hi-res, analog sourced tracks that are beside it. The drum reverb, again, keeps the heavy moments with some stuff buried.
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A Cask Of Amontillado: This is GREAT. Everything starts with the piano in the rears. It's a strong mix. Some '87 drum parts are noticeable during the start of the loud part, but the saturated feeling is nearly zero. When you're inside the loud part, it's just the surround and you. You're inside the music. The LFE is working nice.
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(The System Of) Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether:The hard feeling is active and everything's right, except for some guitar part that is hidden, as one of you said. Right as the '87 mix, there's a string arrangement that joins this song with the next one. This arrangement, as all the orchestral parts in the album, is fully done with the four main speakers, and it co-works perfectly with the sub.
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The Fall Of The House Of Usher: OMG, OMG. Nearly my favorite music piece, and one of the best orchestral surround mixes I've heard. The narration uses the center channel, and it's the first and only time this one's a priority. Again, the strange activity of the sub and the echo hitting the rears are here. You feel like the symphony director, it's that exciting. I find myself dumbfounded trying to recreate the experience in words. :yikes: . When it comes to the rain and drum part, the dark mood of the sound glues to you. Altough the rain feels somewhat forced (it was a stereo recording done in a cloudy day, it's understandable), the door knock that subsequently turns into a drum kick, and the strings complete that mood.
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To One In Paradise: Ethereal, atmospheric. Woolfson's and Parsons' backing vocals are put in the rears. They sync up nicely with the main vocal track. Again, the strings are surrounding you. Amazing. The final narration goes all around, it makes me remember the 5.1 mix of 2001: A Space Oddysey Blu-ray, where HAL-9000 voice was mixed into all the speakers.
Overall it's an AMAZING, GREAT, STUNNING mix! Solid 9. Yes, maybe this score it's related to my system, Parsons' mixes are so perfect that you really need a great system to enjoy 'em.
(A few notes before you throw tomatoes to me
: English it's not my main language.)
Hope this helps
Merry Christmas, have a nice night this weekend with your whole familiy, take care
